Edwin S. Cohen Distinguished Professor of Law and TaxationJ.D., George Washington University Law School, 1977M.Ed., University of Florida, 1972B.A., University of Michigan, 1970

George Yin joined the University of Virginia lawfaculty in 1994 after visiting from the University of Florida. From 2003-05, he served as chief of staff of the U.S. Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation, one of the most influential tax positions in the country.

Yin taught school, was director of a child care center and worked as a computer programmer prior to attending law school. After law school, he clerked for a federal court, practiced law in Washington, D.C., and then served as tax counsel to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee before joining the law faculty at Florida. He also has been a visiting professor at NYU Law School, Pennsylvania and Brigham Young.

While at the Joint Committee, Yin assisted Congress on a number of tax bills, including the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (JGTRRA), the Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004 and the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. In addition, the staff expanded its ability to perform macroeconomic analyses of tax legislation and issued its first such analysis in connection with the House Ways and Means Committee’s consideration of JGTRRA. The staff also completed a major report setting forth options to improve tax compliance and reform tax expenditures.

Yin previously coordinated for the Senate Finance Committee a major project to reform and simplify the tax laws dealing with corporate-shareholder transactions, including corporate mergers, acquisitions and reorganizations. Between 1994-99, he was reporter to the American Law Institute's federal tax project concerning the income taxation of private business enterprises, such as closely held corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies. He has served as a consultant to a number of organizations, including the ALI, the Department of Treasury, the U.S. Joint Committee on Taxation, the National Commission on Restructuring the Internal Revenue Service and the Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, and is currently a member of the IRS Advisory Council.